Fire razes campsite near Mt. Apo peak
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Posted at 03/27/16 11:45 AM | Updated as of 03/27/16 3:54 PM
DAVAO DEL SUR - (2nd UPDATE) A raging fire on the Philippines highest mountain forced hundreds of people to flee from the peak by foot, officials said Sunday.
City Tourism Staff Jomar Calledo said the blaze at Mount Apo started at Campsite 3 along the Digos-Kapatagan trail Saturday afternoon.
Firefighters dug ditches that were seven-feet deep in their battle to contain the blaze, which was still ongoing as of Sunday morning.
There were no reported injuries and nearly all of the 1,000 tourists who were on the mountain were evacuated by noon Sunday.
Calledo said the cause of the fire is still undetermined, but it may have been the extreme heat caused by the ongoing El Niño.
Rescuers and members of the monitoring team had difficulty putting out the fire because the rivers and lakes in Mt. Apo have dried up due to the hot weather.
The fire affected four mountain trails: the Digos-Kapatagan and Sta. Cruz trails in Davao del Sur, and Makilala and Bansalan in North Cotabato.
It also reached portions of the mountain forest near Lake Venado, and those in the vicinity of Davao City and Sta. Cruz, Davao Del Sur.
Air Force helicopters were deployed on Sunday to survey the damage.
Mount Apo towers over the main southern island of Mindanao, at 3,142 meters above sea level, and is home to forest reserves and the breeding ground for the Philippines' national bird, the endangered monkey-eating eagle.
It is common for searing summer temperatures to start fires on the mountain, Camoro said, however the cause of the blaze had not been determined. -- With reports from Hernel Tocmo, ABS-CBN News Davao; Agence France-Presse
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